WRESTLING COLUMNS

Igotta say this: Sometimes Triple H makes it so easy for me. On the heels of an event that saw ME, of all people, cheering for Triple H in an elimination chamber match, Triple H proved that he is the biggest piece of worthless Trash on Vince McMahon's green earth. In a post-PPV Goldberg/HHH confrontation, Triple H had the audacity to refer to the Smackdown! brand as a "second rate promotion with a paper champion". There is so much wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin!

First of all, nobody is stupid enough to believe that RAW and Smackdown! don't fall under the same corporate umbrella. After all, the egotistical boss appears on both shows all the time. So how does one get away with going out in front of the camera (broadcasting live nation wide, and on tape delay world wide) and accuses the 'other' show being a bad program? I guess if you sleep with the boss' daughter you can do whatever you want. What would happen if Bubba Dudley went out and said Kurt Angle is a paper champion and all the Smackdown! wrestlers were second-rate? I'll tell you what, YYYOOOOUUU'RREE FFIIIRRRED!!!

Ok, besides the overall stupidity and lack of business sense Triple H showed, the fact of the matter is, if ANYBODY is a paper champion, it's Triple H. Kurt Angle is a wrestler, Kurt Angle is an athlete, and on top of all that, Kurt Angle is an entertainer -- Triple H is, um, just an entertainer, who happens to have big muscles.

I used to go into chat rooms and debate for HOURS over what WWE program was better. I always stood up for the Smackdown! brand, because my favorite 'wrestlers' were on there; Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Edge, Kurt Angle, Tajiri, Rhyno, John Cena, Brock Lesnar to name a few. RAW was okay, but had far too much glitz and glamour and soap opera-ish stuff going on, but I still watched it (cause I'm obsessed). So bottom line, I prefer the Smackdown! brand..

I gave up on debating that issue though, after I realized there really shouldn't be a debate. Vince McMahon is purposely producing two separate brands geared to two separate demographics!

RAW: The wrestling fans who enjoy RAW more than Smackdown!, generally enjoy the fire works, and the out-of-ring storylines that have nothing to do with wrestling. They would rather be entertained by theatrics, lights and stunts, rather than watch two men battle it out in athletic competition, like we see on Smackdown!, which is fine, if you like it, watch it, that's why they produce it.

Smackdown!: The Smackdown! product is generally more athletic-oriented. There are usually fewer matches, but they are given more time to showcase their in-ring talents. On Smackdown!, the ring psychology isn't as obvious, some of the wrestlers worked for promotions in foreign countries, and were forced to learn how to work an audience without using words, instead, they extract emotional responses simply by using what is referred to as "ring psychology". Attention span-challenged fans today have a hard time appreciating the psychological effects of something as simple as a headlock or a wristlock. People always whine about wanting wrestling to be more realistic, well, in a real fight, you wouldn't jump off a ladder onto somebody; you'd wear them down with rest-holds, and psychologically beat them down. I don't care what sport you're involved with, games/matches are won by using your mind, not your body. You have to look no further than your top two Smackdown! performers -Kurt Angle & Brock Lesnar- to see what direction this brand is going, true wrestlers, both having won numerous championships in amateur wrestling before joining the World of Sports Entertainment.

So there you have it, you're being manipulated by the McMahons. But who cares. They want us to fight over which is better. And that argument will never stop, but for me, I take it for what it is, two different products aimed at making two different fan bases happy. I have to give them credit for recognizing that there is demand for both products.

Even as I write this column, I stare inelegantly at my RAW & Smackdown! previews for this upcoming week. RAW is advertising a potential match of the year candidate, Jerry Lawler vs Jonathan Coachman. And on the Smackdown! side, we have a WWE title match between Kurt Angle & the Undertaker --- What contrast in nature!!

Vince McMahon realized, shortly after botching the WCW Invasion angle, that competition fuels the business. And since his ego would not allow for an outside party to rise up and compete with the WWE, he decided he would create his own competition. Which is horribly arrogant and flat out will not work. I'm sure the McMahons are secretly routing for NWA TNA to get bits of exposure to eventually get a bit closer to WWE's status, so we can have our wrestling wars back again. But what Vince's ego won't allow him to see is, that TNA will whoop his white ass if given the opportunity..

In closing, I want to mention the unbearable fact that we will be exposed to the TRUE paper champion around this time next month, as it looks as though Goldberg is going to get his hands on the World Heavyweight title. We can only hope and pray (seriously, before you go to bed, pray to God) that Goldberg injures himself in an angle between now and then.

For every action, there's an equal or lesser/greater reaction, we recieved this rebuttal from AJ Martin:

Brad,

I read your column and think it was a very good viewpoint but you know I don't agree with it. First off DON'T call Brock Lesnar a good wrestler.DON'T EVER put him in the same sentence with Kurt Angle. OK? Good. Second competition DOESN'T fuel this industry in my opinion. Look at what competition did to wrestling in the mid 90's. The ONLY thing to watch in 96 was the nwo because the wwf was devastated. And then the same was the case in late 99 early 2000 the wcw was devastated because COMPETITION lead to guys leaving the company. Its like baseball in 1972 when free agency came about it has ruined professional sports. Competition is the most overrated crutch for people trying to find a reason why wrestling sucks right now. When the bottom line is when the WWF was at its best in the late 80's and in the late 90's THEY HAD NO COMPETITION. (YES WCW wasn't competition by 1999 IMO) And why were they so good then..............BECAUSE THEY HAD ALL THE STARS. In the 80's they had just about everyone but Flair. In the 90's they had all their talent plus they got Show,Y2GAY,benoit,Eddie,saturn,melanko......etc. In my opinion COMPETITION is the WORST thing for this industry. Think about it. The mid 90's were stale cuz we never got to see macho vs bret or shawn vs hogan cuz we had to watch different brands to see them. Yes it was goo from a fan standpoint cuz that meant more shows to watch each week. But it hurt us as fans cuz we weren't seeing the best face the best. COMPETITION SUCKS!!

What are you smoking AJ?? Ratings hit their peek in 1996 and 1997 in BOTH companies, because they were going head to head.. Now, the WWE has no competition and they are suffering hardcore! That's not only my opinion, that's just the facts, my friend.. That head-to-head competition forced WCW to revolutionize its product to include the new World order, which took WCW to ratings dominance.. In return, the WWF was forced to created new stars, like Stone Cold, Triple H, Mankind, The Rock and others.. Those stars not only took over the ratings, but eventually put WCW out of business.. The WWE is in a slump now, and one of their problems is that they can't create any decent new stars, besides Brock Lesnar..

Speaking of Brock Lesnar, were you not around when he won multiple NCAA Amateur wrestling champions? How can you not call him a wrestler?!?!

Competition makes companies strive to be better, it forces them to appreciate the opinions of the fans more, and enourages them to give us what we want. WWE doesn't give a rats ass what kind of product they produce, because the fans can't turn the channel any more. So why bother trying??!?

well,
true i can't type fast and correctly and since i dont have time anymore i have to accept that LOL. That being said the ratings in 96-97 were horrible my friend your wrong. Both companies COMBINED equaled 5 something.

And i can say that Brock Lesnar can't wrestle since he has been in the WWF for 18 months and has not put on ONE GOOD MATCH that made you say "BRAVO" He is the most useless POS i have ever seen this side of Scott Steiner.

Competition KILLS companies and prevents us from seeing ALL the talent on one show. Competition means that our ticket prices go up our ppv's go up since wrestlers have an option and can go to the highest bidder. If it wasn't for wcw do you actually think any of these guys would be making over a Mil base salary? I dont think so. I think you and i need to do a PTI show and discuss stuff
Brad Dykens' Rebuttle:

I think we'll agree to disagree on the Competion issue..

As for Brock Lesnar, he's a rookie in an entertainment industry. If you're talking about pure WRESTLERS, like Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit, Brock Lesnar COULD be included in that category, but because of his size, he has been booked and scripted to look like a big musclehead. The unique thing about him is that he combines his power with his wrestling abilities, which makes him a top star for the future.. As for not putting in any decent matches in 18 months, that is your minority opinion..

Going back to my original point when I first started writing this column. I'd be willing to bet that you prefer RAW over Smackdown!..
I recieved this from HUMBERTOAVEN@aol.com:

i totally agree smackdown has the wrestlers and raw the soap opera but in last few months smackdown has been going down in the ratings right now they are starting to raise up NOT BECAUSE OF ANGLE OR LESNAR IS BECAUSE OF CENA AND EDDIE and yes hhh made a mistake when he said that kurt angle was a paper champion when in fact hhh is the paper champion because he never won that title it was given by erick bischoff but when you said that hhh is just and entertainer with big muscles you are totally WRONG and i tell you why beside being a good entertainer since the days of degeration x hhh character and his gimmick always some how it always grow never got stock like others kurt has the same persona since day one and lesnar please, when it comes to wrestling hhh is a great wrestler and a master of all kind of matches you throw at him the matches he had with foley that tell you everything he is been and winning in hell in the cell ,one hour iron man match with the rock,last man standing with ,jericho,real hardcore matches with foley, falls count everywhere, he is been retaining the title at wretlemania like 2 times just to name a few and talk about wrestling you should watch the match he had with taker at wrestlemania 17 no one comes even close to that,and even he can be the posible owner in the future in case shane dies talk about winning ,you see hhh is the diamond of this business they dont call him the game just because someone wanted to throw him a clever tag line to sell some tshirts they call him the game because he already is in the game he is the damn game the king of kings .why because he is that damn goodHey My name is Chris Peacock:

First off forgive me I can't spell that well. Now I have to say I have been watching wrestling
for 16 years and beings that I am only 19 years
old that is pretty good. I have seen good champions come and good.
I almost 100 percent agree with you on everything. But I do think that Raw has some
decent tallent. Chris Jericho for example is a great in ring star.

The only problem is they had to tone his style down alot because of cry
babies like Triple H getting hurt. But for the most part the talent is on the
smackdown roster. As far as AJ's comments about Brock, I would like
to see him do a shooting start press after his reaches the weight of 295
pounds.

The only thing that bothers me about smackdown is they are drowning
there good tallent to keep there three best on top. Guys like Chris Beniot
and Eddie and even Taker deserve there shots. Taker is getting one yes I
know but it is long over due. As far as paper champs go I think Triple H is
the biggest piece of crap to grace a wrestling ring and the only person
worse then him is the guy one RAW they are about to give the title too. And
as far as competition goes umm well it is simple the better company wins.

Competing makes the world run. But as far as it goes in wrestling is
that it has wrecked companys. I use to wait to watch portland wrestling
here in oregon every saturday and because the wwe wanted the time slot that PW
was on and on the same channel to run there after burn crap, it caused PW
to go under.

Competition in wrestling wrecks good companies.
Um:

I think AJ Martin has reached 295 already HAHA..

Brad
MadCurves6969 had this to say:

Brad after reading I Gotta Say This # 2, well, I gotta say this: WHAT A TOTAL PIECE OF CRAP! It's a very entertaining work of fiction, and that's what it is, a work of FICTION. There's barely a truthful word in that entire column. First off, The remarks of Triple H, were quite OBVIOUSLY made while he was in character.Or are you one of those marks who think that his T.V. personna is actually who he is in real life? If you are, you shouldn't be polluting people's minds with your mindless hate of the companie's greatest worker, Triple H. As for the arguement that he's only where he is because of his relationship with the boss's daughter, do you truly believe that Vince would sacrifice the well-being and future of his company just to please one man who happens to be dating Stephanie? If you do, I have two words:Get Help
wrote:

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